No impact of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation on symptoms or hostility among patients with schizophrenia

In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, Qiao et al. (2020) investigated the impact of administering fish oil (omega-3 fatty acids) supplements on the hostility and psychopathology among patients with acute violent schizophrenia. The participants were acute hospitalized patients showing violent behavior attributed to their schizophrenia, and who were being treated with antipsychotics. Thirty-two patients were given the fish oil supplement while 35 were treated with placebo as a result of random allocation. Assessments were conducted at baseline, week 4 and week 8. Reductions in symptoms and hostility were reported after treatment at the 4-week and 8-week marks for both groups, with no variation between the fish oil intervention and placebo. This data implies that omega-3 fatty acids do not reduce psychopathology nor hostility in acute patients with schizophrenia. [NPID: mood disorders, psychiatric disorders, fish oil, omega-3 fatty acids, schizophrenia]

Year: 2020

Reference: Qiao, Y., Liu, C. P., Han, H. Q., Liu, F. J., Shao, Y., & Xie, B. (2020). No Impact of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation on Symptoms or Hostility Among Patients With Schizophrenia. Frontiers in psychiatry, 11, 312. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00312